Confederate Flag Race Car Puts Spotlight on Fairgrounds Leadership

Metro officials are questioning leadership at the Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville after a driver competed in a car decorated with the Confederate flag on Nov. 6. While government cannot limit acts of speech protected under the First Amendment, councilmembers have raised their own flags about potential contract violations by the race promoter Track Enterprises, a private company.

The driver, Joseph West Jr. of Charlotte, Tenn., has publicly documented his car’s Confederate flag roof design. The Confederate flag has been banned at events by racing giant NASCAR since June 2020. After an expensive and successful petition campaign over the summer, Nashville residents may vote next year on whether to continue auto racing at the fairgrounds. Racing’s role in preserving the culture of a bygone era has been a rallying cry for racing supporters, though this controversy has already fueled some arguments to boot the sport from Nashville. 

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A brief statement from Fairgrounds Nashville executive director Laura Womack confirms that the city’s track does not allow the flag display. 

“Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway does not condone or permit the display of the Confederate flag at our facility,” explains Womack in an email to councilmembers. “Speedway officials are aware of the situation and are working directly with the driver and race team to address the matter appropriately.”

Womack did not respond to the Scene's direct request for comment. Her response has not satisfied specific questions from some Metro officials and community members. Several Metro councilmembers — including Terry Vo, whose district includes the track — have pressed Womack about the incident. Vo released her own comments, calling the incident “unacceptable” and promising changes at the site. Videos of the race circulated on social media show the car circling the track and crashing into another driver.

“The confederate flag is hate speech, and its use not only perpetuates the false narrative of a losing adversary to this country but also a system of white supremacy and violence,” Councilmember Quin Evans Segall writes in a letter to Womack. “Certainly mistakes in rule application happen, but this was not a mere mistake. It was the use of public property for discriminatory and hateful ends. I understand further that this race car has appeared there before, further underscoring the seriousness with which we should take this situation.”

Other groups have weighed in. Timothy Hughes, president of Nashville’s NAACP branch, requested more information about track policies governing the display of hate symbols in a letter to Womack.

“Consistent with the NAACP’s longstanding position, we call on the Fairgrounds and Fair Board to take concrete and enforceable steps to end Confederate flag displays at this public facility and hold event operators accountable for implementing and enforcing appropriate standards,” reads Hughes’ letter, dated Nov. 12.